COVER STORY
The Women of Shaheen Bagh Challenge Hindu Fascism
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The Economist said it all
Muslim-populated localities. A day before the current wave of violence, he warned that party members would forcibly remove those protesters who didn’t abandon their homes after Trump’s visit. However, they began carrying out their threat while the Trumps were enjoying their visit to the Taj Mahal — an ivory-white marble mausoleum commissioned in 1632 by the Muslim Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, his favorite wife. This violence is rooted in the fascist Hindutva ideology that believes in a Hinduonly India — a goal it wants to achieve by 2025. The RSS promotes this idea and says that any Muslims allowed to remain can only be second-class citizens. Its millions of members make it the world’s largest paramilitary organization, and its political wing, the BJP, now controls the federal government and 14 of India’s 28 states. Many believe that this latest wave of violence is part of a pogrom. The BJP first tested this plan in 2002 when Modi, who the Seattle City Council called the “Butcher of Gujarat” (https://sikhsiyasat.net), was ruling the state. Under his supervision, terrorists killed thousands of Muslims and destroyed property worth millions of dollars. During 2017, party hooligans uprooted thousands of Muslims living in Uttar Pradesh. People fear that a nationwide anti-Muslim campaign may be in the works. ih Dr. Aslam Abdullah, a resident scholar at Islamicity.org, is a Muslim American activist who visited India early this year and witnessed violence against the people. He has served as director of several Islamic centers and as editor-in-chief of the erstwhile Minaret magazine.
22 ISLAMIC HORIZONS MAY/JUNE 2020
HE WOMAN-LED MOVEMENT launched in Shaheen Bagh to protect India’s constitutionally guaranteed secular and plural structure is unique in Muslim — maybe even in the world’s — history. No one would have thought that those living on their community’s margins could ever transform millions of usually passive spectators into activists worldwide. This movement is feminism at its best — resistance at its peak, a revolution with far-reaching consequences for Muslims everywhere. It is no exaggeration to foresee a future where every women-led movement will feel its impact. Starting off as a protest against the notorious CAA passed by the BJP government last December, the longest-running protests soon became a movement to protect the constitution and then a revolution with which every law-abiding, secular and democratic Indian wants to identify. It has drawn crowds in the millions nationwide and led several state assemblies to pass resolutions against the CAA. It has brought secularists and democrats onto one platform and exposed the fascists who envision a Hindutva Rashtra. RSS founder Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966), who was deeply influenced by Hitler, propounded Hindutva’s three essentials: a common nation (rashtra), a common race (jati) and a common culture or civilization (sanskriti). This echoes the Nazi slogan of Ein Volk - Ein Reich - Ein Fuhrer (One People - One Country - One Leader). Most of the Shaheen Bagh women are average Muslimahs from various middle-income strata who have no ties to any political party, religious sect or institution. Most of them grew up in a very restrictive environment. Not always allowed to enter mosques and Islamic centers, they had little chance to listen to sermons. Even if they were allowed, the speakers might have told them that their place is at home, or that they must serve their husbands or could not speak in front of men. And so they learned about their world
through the Internet, joining WhatsApp groups of sisters or through various news sources. Despite this encompassing male suppression and marginalization, they unleashed their anger upon seeing their children beaten mercilessly by the New Delhi police on Dec. 15, 2019, at the Jamia Millia Islamia. Their outrage, which caused them to launch protests against such brutality, gradually evolved into a movement to protect the constitution as many women — not all of them Muslim — began to respond by following their example. Today, women have taken to the streets in hundreds of cities, braving harsh winter weather and vulgar attacks on their integrity and character. Fascist BJP leaders are calling them “Pakistani agents,” “terrorists” and “traitors” — even “whores.” And yet, these hijab- or niqab-wearing women have retained their dignity. Even after 70 days (as of the writing of this article), they continue to stand their ground and maintain their initial enthusiasm. India’s male-dominated Supreme Court has failed to capture the movement’s essence and thus is trying to reduce its importance by declaring it a “dispute over a road closure.” The 1,000 sq. ft. space they have occupied in Shaheen Bagh — not the constitution — has become its priority. These women don’t trust the BJP government, which, they assert, consists of fascists and liars. They believe that the ruling party is using its majority to change India’s ethos, that religion doesn’t determine citizenship and that people have a right to live with dignity in their homeland. These women have shown the world that despite obstacles and impediments, people can rise and peacefully engender change. Their discipline, responsibility and dedication have created a role model for the world’s women. Hopefully they will inspire all Muslimahs to defend human dignity and pluralism so that no one will feel excluded. On March 23, police using bulldozers broke up the protest, citing a ban on public gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic. ih
